


Beware the Wanderers

by SillyBlue



Series: SPN A/B/O Bingo 2017 [5]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alpha Dean Winchester, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Implied Bottom Castiel, Implied Sexual Content, Implied Top Dean, M/M, Mpreg, Omega Castiel, Omega Castiel/Alpha Dean Winchester, Pregnant Castiel, Witch Castiel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-30
Updated: 2017-11-30
Packaged: 2019-02-08 20:55:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12872823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SillyBlue/pseuds/SillyBlue
Summary: Whenever one of the elusive Wanderers came through the village, Castiel's mother would try to hide him away. All his life Castiel has been told the scary stories: Wanderers stole hearts and left people to die. Castiel knew to be cautious around them. When one particular Wanderer visited to purchase goods from Castiel, he intended to guard his heart well. But it proved to be easier said than done, because Dean was incredibly charming.





	Beware the Wanderers

**Author's Note:**

> Another square on my A/B/O Bingo, this time Mpreg~  
> In this story their presentation status isn't super relevant and Mpreg is a small part of the story. But I hope you enjoy this little world I created.

Castiel remembered being wrapped into the folds of his mother's robes, feeling the wool and cotton and the softest silk brush upon his winter red cheeks.

She'd say "Child, beware of the wanderers", in hushed tones, her scent cold but familiar, like the pine forest covered in snow. The other children in the square often shrieked the tunes of the Wanderer's Song to tease, when one of the men in heavy fur coats and with bulging bags that reeked of foul magic and blood, came through the village to stock up for their journeys.

Other than them, Castiel feared the wanderers, because his mother feared them.

"They have no soul and they have no heart. Castiel, remember that. They can't love you. They will always follow the call of the Wild, and sometimes they will try to fill the emptiness in their chest by stealing your heart," his mother warned. She was a fearful woman, despite the strong magic that inhabited her.

For years Castiel never understood why she was so afraid of the world or why she always wrapped Castiel into the folds of her robes, as if she was afraid that he would disappear. They lived in a little cottage outside of the village, at the end of a trail that led through a thick pine forest and the crunching snow.

Castiel knew that they were outsiders, no better than wanderers in the eyes of the village folk. They were tolerated because the village needed the magic his mother had. Magic that Castiel too possessed. And that made his mother fearful.

"Wanderers will try to steal you. Don't go with them, Castiel. They will break your heart," his mother told him tearfully, whenever Castiel looked out of the window, out into the dark night, his spell work forgotten and thoughts of foreign lands on his mind. As he got older and his mother's failing health meant that she had to let Castiel run her errands, he understood what his mother never spoke of.

"Your Ma is from far up North," Ellen told him, when she treated him to a cup of hot chocolate after he had renewed the warding around her inn.

"Is she?"

"Yes. She's a Northern Witch. With the blood of angels flowing through her veins. Just like the blood flows through you," she said kindly. "But she fell in love with a wanderer, packed up all her things to follow him. But you know how wanderers are…"

"They can't love people because they have no hearts," Castiel recited what his mother had told him countless times. Ellen huffed a laugh, her comforting scent washing over Castiel, making the chocolate taste even better. It was different here in Ellen's inn. Her scent was warm, like beeswax and chamomile even when Ellen was sad because her husband was gone. Mother was always cold. Even in the height of summer she never lost that frosty edge. Castiel wondered what he would smell like, once he reached puberty. Would he smell like his mother? Or would he smell like the wanderer that stole her heart out of her breast?

"She never recovered from that loss," Ellen said, her expression sad and pitying. Castiel remained silent, pensively looking into his cup. He vowed to himself to never fall for the charms of a wanderer.

* * *

 

Castiel had his first wanderer stumble into his little store a year after his mother's passing. He was still airing out the cottage, trying to have the fresh spring air chase away the scent of his recent heat. It seemed to cling to everything, mingling with the herbs and the tang of magic.

For someone who carried their whole life on his person, this wanderer was lightly dressed, with only a cape covering his clothes and a bag slung over his chest. His hair was short, his face youthful and covered in freckles. His scent drifted towards Castiel like incense smoke lazily spiraling through the air, mingling with the scents in the cottage. It was pleasant. But Castiel knew not to be fooled, especially not by the longing he felt when he gazed upon this man.

The wanderer was an alpha but he was nervous, that much was clear. Castiel had people try to rob or attack him before, but he was a witch of the north and he knew how to defend himself. The wanderer looked Castiel up and down for a moment, seizing him up, his eyes lingering on the hand that Castiel was clenching at his side, ready to fling magic at him. He acknowledged the warning Castiel sent him with a nod, then his eyes drifted upwards and he looked around the shop.

"Nice place you've got here, even though it took ages to find you out here in the forest" he said, his casual tone and body language belying his scent. Dean walked around, the floor boards creaking under his boots. Castiel had added to his cottage when he took over from his mother; building a work room and a shop, so that he didn’t' have to let everyone into his home. Especially not wanderers.

He let the man walk around, taking in the small room.

"The Nephilim I've met so far sold their stuff out of dark alleys or in the back rooms of certain establishments," the alpha commented, pulling out a jar holding griffin feathers to study them. "Good quality."

"Are you knowledgeable about the quality of griffin feathers, wanderer?" Castiel asked, stepping up to his cash book. The wanderer threw the jar into the air, making Castiel tense and his irritation spike, but he caught it again, twirling the jar in his hand.

"Actually, I'm a hunter," he said, then he winked. " _Witch_." Castiel looked at him in surprise. Hunters were often descendants from wanderers, cursed to always wander the world as well, always chasing monsters or the promise of supernatural objects that they could then sell to people like Castiel for a good coin. Castiel never dealt with a hunter before as harvested most of his ware himself and what he couldn't get himself he usually commissioned from the trading company. The hunter put the jar back into its place and stepped towards the counter. "I'm Dean Winchester. I usually get my stuff from an old witch that dealt in Ellen's parlor. Apparently, she kicked the bucket so Ellen sent me here." Castiel bristled at that, his already tense mood swapping over into anger. Dean seemed to notice his blunder at once, sniffing when Castiel's sent became glacial.

"Your previous business partner was my mother. She passed last year. I'm sorry but you'll have to do your business transactions with me now," he spat and Dean looked at him in surprise. Castiel tried to remember when his mother had gone out to make deals even when her health had mostly confined her to his bed. She had always insisted on doing the deals with wanderers, claiming that they could not steal what had already been stolen from her. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't at once realize how Dean's expression changed from aloof to sorrowful.

"I'm sorry. I should not have spoken like that. It was unkind of me," he said and Castiel looked at him in surprise. Dean opened his cape, letting Castiel get a glimpse of his surprisingly smart clothes, then he reached into a little bag that he had at his hips. He pulled out a jar and put it on the cash book in front of Castiel. "I'm sorry for your loss." Castiel frowned at him, then he took the jar in which he found small cut flowers, star shaped and white.

"Edelweiss," Dean explained. "From all the way up North." Castiel looked up in surprise, seeing a small, shy smile on Dean's face. "Usually they fetch me a good sum, but I hope you'll accept them as an apology." Castiel studied the flowers that he had only seen in books and stitched onto his mother's shawls.

"Thank you…," Castiel said, feeling his throat close up with emotion. He put the jar away and cleared his throat to regain his composure. Then he looked up at Dean. "I'm Castiel. At your service." Dean grinned and made an exaggerated curtsey.

"And I am at yours."

* * *

 

Castiel knew it was foolish and dangerous, but he found himself looking forward to the time Dean passed through their village. As a hunter he went where work took him, never putting down roots or lingering for too long.

Castiel heard the familiar tunes of the children singing the Wanderer's Song and looked out of Ellen's window. And there were the children, flocking around Dean, who rode into the village on his dark horse, a grin on his face. He handed out sweets to the children.

"Dean's a good boy," Ellen insisted and Castiel looked away from the window to find a knowing smile on the inn keeper's face.

"He's a hunter. Whether he's a good boy doesn't much matter," Castiel insisted even though he understood what Ellen was implying. "I will not have my heart stolen and perish like my mother did."

"Dean isn't like your father. He won't take from you," Ellen said, surprisingly insistent to defend him. Castiel knew that Dean was charming, funny, intelligent and kind. And Castiel missed his scent when it faded from his shop. But he was a hunter, barely better than a wanderer. Castiel shook his head. "He has so much love to give, just like you do," Ellen added.

"His love will mean nothing when he leaves. And he will leave. What will become of me then? I'm not strong like you humans are, Ellen" Castiel insisted and Ellen kept silent, but she nodded, letting the topic drop.

Moments later Dean came into the inn, grinning widely and spreading his arms.

"What a sight for sore eyes!" he greeted and walked up to them. He hugged Ellen and didn't even hesitate to also wrap Cas in a firm hug. "Even the hillbilly witch is here!" he said with a teasing grin. Castiel didn't even notice the comment, he was too preoccupied by the feeling of Dean's arms around him. Since his mother's death, nobody had touched Castiel with such familiarity. He felt Dean's strong scent wrap around him, mingle with his own in perfect harmony. Dean grinned at him, his cheeks slightly red, then he clapped him on his shoulder, his touch lingering and eyes often finding Castiel's again.

Castiel felt the chains around his heart unravelling further.

Even as the warmth of Dean's presence coursed through him, his soul froze in fear at the danger. He was a Nephilim. If he gave his heart away and Dean left then he would be damned to wilt away, just like his mother. It couldn't happen. It _couldn't_.

* * *

 

But it did.

Dean kept coming back, even though his hunts pulled him all over the continent and he was often gone for months. He kept coming back and Castiel felt himself falling for him more each day.

"He's courting you," Jo observed disinterestedly. Jo was studying in the capital and was back to visit her mother and help around the inn. Castiel knew she was angry somehow, but he couldn't quite pinpoint why. "And you're too dense to even notice."

Castiel looked at the fabrics Dean had brought him and the flowers that were on top of it. Castiel wasn't an idiot.

"I know."

"You know?" Jo asked in disbelief and she tossed the towel down on the counter. "Then how come you're not mated already?"

"Jo," Ellen admonished. "Nephilim guard their hearts more closely." Jo wanted to protest, but in the end she just huffed and stalked away. "She's got a bit of a crush on Dean," Ellen explained.

"Oh…" Castiel muttered, then he looked down, feeling his face heat up. He was so torn about it that it hurt. He enjoyed every minute Dean spent with him and he longed for him when he was gone. But it hurt every time he left. How could he possibly survive if Dean kept leaving and one day didn't come back?

"He won't stay. Ellen… There's always a next hunt, a next case. And I can't go with him. My mother tried, but we're not made for that life." He felt emotion rush up inside of him, like the rising tide. He gave a start when he felt Ellen's warm hand close around his own.

"You are not your mother, Castiel. And Dean is not your father. Everything is different," she promised but Castiel wasn't sure.

* * *

 

He invited Dean in. His cottage filled up with Dean's scent and Dean's warm hands brushed the cold fear away from him.

"You sure?" Dean kept on asking, voice a whisper between kisses and the rustling of fabric being pushed away. The bed creaked under their combined weight and Castiel could feel the magic in the house quiver and rearrange as he opened himself to Dean.

"Please," Castiel said, kissing Dean's neck before wrapping his arms around it, pulling Dean close. He wanted there to be no more space between them, slotting them together like the lines of an intricate warding symbol.

He never wanted to let Dean go again. But he knew that he would leave. If only Cas could make Dean a part of him, if only something of Dean would be trapped in this house, captured and sheltered. If only Dean didn't take Castiel's heart away with him.

If only.

If only.

Dean looked over his shoulder, doubt and longing etched into his face, as he guided his horse down the path that would take him away through the pine forest. Castiel had his mother's robe wrapped around him, but still the winter air soaked up Dean's warmth, no matter how he wished to keep it inside. He lifted his hand up in a silent farewell. Dean nodded, then he rode out.

* * *

 

The seasons changed and Dean didn't return. Castiel kept looking out of the windows, for a sign of something coming down the path towards his cottage. But not many people made the journey now that Castiel had a shop in the village itself. Things were changing for him and he no longer felt like an outcast that had to hide under the many layers of his mother's robes and shawls.

Ellen was fussing over him, in a way Castiel could imagine that his mother would have, when his heat didn't come and his stomach started swelling under his robes.

Dean didn't return but no emptiness expanded in Castiel's chest. No frost made his body wilt. He didn't feel like he was broken. He wasn't wasting away.

"I've sent a letter to Sam, Dean's brother, to find out why Dean hasn't been through our village in months. Sam said he had accepted a hunt from King Crowley that took him across the continent."

"It's alright, Ellen," Castiel said, absently wrapping charms in little gift satchels while he read a book on blessing spells for infants.

"I'm so sorry… I told you Dean wouldn't leave you… And now…," Ellen's voice wavered and she shook her head.

"You said Dean wouldn't steal from me," Castiel corrected her and looked up from his reading. Ellen was standing by the shelves, wiping her eyes. "And he didn't. My mother was broken without my father and she lost her home trying to follow him. The loss of her heart and roots made her wilt away… But I'm not leaving."

"Oh, Castiel…"

The idea of raising a child on his own filled Castiel with a dull sense of sadness, but it wasn't unbearable. He wouldn't repeat his mother's mistakes and follow Dean into the Wild. No. This was his home and it would be his child's home. Nothing changed, but his life would be richer than it had been before Dean became a part of it.

And he would cherish that.

* * *

 

It was early summer when Song of the Wanderer reached Castiel through the open windows of his store. He was reclining in his chair, quite comfortable despite the weight of his child and the rising temperatures. But when he heard the children shriek and then start to sing, Castiel was quick to rise to his feet. He pulled open the door, the bright light momentarily blinding him.

He could hear Dean's deep laughter as he joined in with the children, handing them some sweets and trinkets form his journey. Castiel held his hand to his forehead, to block out the sun, looking out into the square. It wasn't just a hallucination. Dean was there, tall and beautiful, hair looking gold in the sun.

He waited in the open doorway for Dean to come to him. He knew the moment Dean noticed the state Castiel was in as the alpha slowed to a stop a couple of meters before him. There were still children flocking him and some started giggling now. One girl gave Dean a push, so that he stumbled forwards. Dean looked over his shoulder, getting encouraging nods from the children, then he made his way towards Castiel. He seemed almost shy, his eyes growing wider as he got closer, his gaze firmly locked on Castiel's belly.

"Cas…," Dean breathed when he was finally within reach. Castiel closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, letting Dean's scent settle his nerves. "I didn't mean to be gone so long," he said. Castiel opened his eyes and smiled up at Dean. He reached out and put his arms around Dean, pulling him in for a hug. "I missed you so much," Dean muttered against Castiel's hair. "I think I forgot my damn heart here." Castiel's heart skipped a beat. Was it possible? Did he hold Dean's heart? Was that even possible?

"You certainly left your sperm here, but I took good care of it," Castiel said and gave a start when Dean started laughing loudly, directly into his ear. Dean lot go of him, still chuckling.

"Damn, that was a bad joke," he said and ruffled Cas' hair. Then he looked down at Castiel's stomach again. He let his hands slide down Castiel's arms and then he put his warm palms on Castiel's belly. "This is amazing… You weren't in heat so how…"

"Luck, I suppose," Castiel said with a smile. He heard some whistles and noticed the kids still observing them with big grins. He pulled Dean inside of the store and closed the door. He and Dean didn't have to have this conversation in front of the whole village.

"Wow, Cas, I can't imagine it! You're pregnant!" Dean started right away, surprising Castiel with his enthusiasm and joy about it.

"Yes, I am. But I need you to know that this doesn't change anything," Castiel said, leaning back against the counter. Dean's expression fell at once.

"What do you mean…?" he sounded almost fearful. "Please Cas, don't reject me. I can be a good father. I _will_ be a good father." Castiel was puzzled by Dean's words.

"Dean, I'm not leaving this village to follow you out into the wild. I have made my life here. I am happy here and I want my child to grow up here too. Not out there, constantly being dragged across the country, without being able to put down roots."

"Do you think I want that?" Dean asked but when he only got a blank look in return, he sighed. "I don't want that, Cas. I have been a hunter because I couldn't do anything else. I grew up wandering but I never loved it. Why do you think I kept coming back to you all the time?"

"Because… you needed my magic?" Cas suggested and Dean laughed.

"No, dumbass. I know you're good, but I don't have to come all the way here to get magic when my case is halfway across the country," he said, then he took a step closer, so he could kiss Castiel sweetly. "I never wanted to leave you. I wanted to stay right here…"

"I wish you could…," Castiel said with a sigh.

"I can," Dean said shyly and his simple words took Castiel's breath away. "Crowley gave me a case and rewarded me handsomely for it. I have enough money now not to need to go on another case again, but I… I don’t know what I can contribute to this village, maybe there's no place for me here, but-"

"Of course there is a place for you here," Castiel insisted sharply, almost angry at Dean's suggestion. "Right here. Next to me." Dean's eyes were shining bright with unshed tears.

"Are you sure…? I mean, really-" Castiel nodded, taking Dean's hands into his.

"Yes, Dean… Please… Put down your roots here," he begged. Dean closed his eyes, not putting up any resistance when Castiel pulled him into a hug, kissing his cheek. "Welcome home."

* * *

 

Wanderers still passed through the town, but Dean never felt the call of the Wild like they did. He was happy to build a life with Castiel and the furthest he ever went was to visit his brother in the Capital.

Castiel felt no remorse leaving behind the old and cold cottage in the pine forest and to move into a nice home in the village when their daughter was born.

Dean put down his roots and thrived.

"Beware of the wanderers, they will steal your heart!" Dean teased his mate in passing, cradling their daughter in his arms. Castiel rolled his eyes fondly. Dean grinned at him. "Aww, don't be huffy, mommy."

"I'm not huffy. And as silly as you make it sound, I did have to be cautious. I couldn't know that you'd be such an anomaly," Castiel retorted calmly. Dean barked a laugh, making their baby open her eyes lazily, frowning up at Dean.

"Did you hear that Anna? Mommy's a meanie to daddy." Anna obviously felt no need to comment that, she merely pursed her lips and then closed her eyes again. Dean chuckled. "In any case, I think you're the one who stole my heart. Or at least you borrowed it, so I would come back."

"I can't help that you fell for my charms," Castiel answered with a small smile, then he held up a protective charm that he had just assembled. "I'm the most competent witch in this country." Dean grinned and blew him a kiss.

"Yeah, I don't know about that but you were always the funniest one," Dean agreed. Castiel smiled at him.

Castiel knew that no matter how strongly the Wild would call for Dean, he would not answer, because he had entrusted Castiel with his heart. And Castiel would care for and cherish it for the rest of his life.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! ♥


End file.
